The present invention relates to a flexible chain conveyor.
It is known that chain conveyors substantially constituted by two or more parallel chains associated with motorized advancement sprockets are currently particularly appreciated thanks to their functional characteristics.
The two parallel chains are transversely connected by rod-like elements whose ends are fixed to the corresponding and opposite links of the chains.
In particular, and merely by way of example, this kind of conveyor is commonly used in the food sector in processes for deep-freezing, cooking, cooling, leavening, sterilizing food or products having similar production problems.
Currently, the links of the chains are accommodated in slot-like guides which retain them in a position which is substantially parallel to the resting and advancement surface or, vice versa, at right angles thereto.
Usually, two adjacent links of the same chain are therefore arranged substantially at right angles to each other.
Such an arrangement of the links, however, leads to a considerable space occupation of the chain which forces the manufacturer to deal with considerable complications in fixing the rod-like elements to the links.
In order to ensure the co-planar arrangement of the transverse rod-like elements fixed to the links it is in fact necessary to either skip alternate links of the series or provide connections in different points.
If instead a substantially constant pitch is required, the transverse rod-like elements are necessarily connected on different planes of arrangement, and this does not provide an ideal flat conveyance surface.
These problems are currently solved by shaping the transverse elements or by introducing shims in order to provide a flat plane of arrangement.
There is also the problem of a certain unevenness of the transverse dimensions and of the transverse load-bearing capacity of the conveyor.
Further problems can be found in the fact that not all the links can be engaged by the advancement sprockets, accordingly requiring the provision of a synchronization system which skips the links that cannot be engaged.
Furthermore, known conveyors, in order to allow meshing with the advancement sprockets, entail raising the bars, especially in the presence of bends, which problem worsens when, as frequently occurs, the conveyor has to follow a rising or descending spiral path.
Moreover, this arrangement of the links causes the gap between two successive rod-like elements to be usually rather large, thus limiting considerably the dimensions of the objects that can be conveyed.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a flexible chain conveyor which solves the drawbacks mentioned above in conventional conveyors, in particular by reducing significantly the space occupation of the chains and at the same time solving the problem of achieving a perfect co-planar arrangement of the rod-like elements that substantially constitute the resting surface of the products to be conveyed.
Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor whose structure eliminates completely the need to shape the transverse rod-like elements or to introduce shims in order to ensure that the resting surface is perfectly co-planar.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor whose structure allows a substantially constant transverse load-bearing capacity without having protruding elements.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor whose structure allows optimum meshing of all the links that constitute the chains, thus simplifying synchronization with the advancement sprockets.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor whose structure allows to reduce the curvature radii, thus reducing space occupation in rising and descending spiral paths.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor whose structure allows very short center distances between the transverse rod-like elements, thus allowing to convey even small objects, and which can be manufactured with known technologies and machines at costs being competitive with respect to those of known available conveyors.
This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a flexible chain conveyor, characterized in that it comprises at least one chain having links whereon rod-like elements are fixed transversely, said links that constitute said at least one chain being inclined by a preset angle with respect to an imaginary plane which is perpendicular to an advancement plane of the conveyor.